Cluster Insight with Capgemini

– My role is new within Capgemini, and it demonstrates our focus as a company to make a green impact, says Gunnulf Rasmussen, Director of Ocean Technologies.

Cluster Insight is a column where we ask six questions to catch a glimpse into the daily business-lives of the partners and members of GCE Ocean Technology.

This week, we spoke with Gunnulf Rasmussen, to learn more about him and his work at Capgemini; a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation.

1. What is your role in Capgemini?

I joined Capgemini 1 March as Director of Ocean Technologies. My background is from IT, oil and gas and recently aquaculture.

I am excited about sustainability, digitalization, and new ways of working. My role is new within Capgemini, and it demonstrates our focus as a company to make a green impact. “Unleashing human energy through technology for an inclusive and sustainable future” is the Capgemini purpose statement.

2. Your primary focus at work right now is?

I am still new to a global company counting 270.000 employees across the world. Currently I am familiarizing myself with colleagues, customers and our global capabilities. The call for increased sustainability is ubiquitous and discussed among executives and board members world-wide.

I hope to see increased collaboration between customers, vendors, clusters and research institutes to dramatically change the pace of solving complex challenges. The tricky part is to acknowledge or improve the value chain and establish common attractive models for those supposed to engage.

We need to find answers to questions like “what is the problem, who can solve it, how can we solve it, and why should they do it? Often, the WHY is missed out, hence progress is slow. This is just a small part of the whole picture, but it is essential to process remodelling, data-driven decisions and fulfilling the promise of “Industry 4.0”.

One of my first assignments was to dive into practical use of “Digital Twins”. Despite an abstract concept, the promise is to leverage knowledge of the past to predict scenarios of the future. It is very exciting to collaborating in creating “magic crystal balls” together with colleagues, utilising artificial intelligence and machine learning.

3. Biggest challenges and opportunities for Capgemini in the future?

The market for advanced IT solutions blended with domain knowledge is skyrocketing. The obvious challenge is to develop talents in a pace to meet the demands. In my company we have a specific programme to develop new talents right from school.

The combination of University grade schooling and on-the-job training with experienced colleagues yields very good results. I am impressed by young colleagues I meet at the lunch table and on assignments. I am a strong believer in diversity, and in Capgemini we enjoy that to the fullest! I feel lucky to learn new things every day. Age and seniority do not control the flow direction of knowledge. I am happy to learn from newcomers that seem comfortable with teaching me!

4. Best part of being member in a cluster?

Proximity to customers, research projects and competitors is needed to solve complex challenges. Just to phrase a challenge and to envision a solution to it, calls for multiple perspectives. The GCE Ocean Technology cluster represents an arena where different players can come together, learn from each other, and put projects into work.

5. Your business motto

I have no particular motto, but I feel joy in the poem of Halldis Moren Vesaas, called “Å vera i livet” (To be in life). I can’t the rephrase the whole poem, but I use it to remind myself of being a manager, creating a performance culture in the following verse (freely translated from Norwegian):

“And he who is rich wants himself
a house that is thus built
that all who belong to the house
feel good and safe,
and so that foreigners gladly
come by the doors there
and increases the wealth that already exists
with all that they themselves are. "

6. Which cluster member should we interview next?

I would like to hear from another new member of the cluster like Palfinger Marine Norway.

Thank you for the insight Gunnulf.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Before you go…
Check out the latest Cluster Insights from Hefring Marine, PSW, Corvus Energy and plenty of others.